Classic Campers - VW Kombis - Silverdale

Bevan runs an excellent VW camper outfit. He is very professional and the quality of our vehicle was perfect. We rented the orange 80s westfalia vanagon. It was an overall excellent experience and I would highly recommend Bevan and his campers to my friends and family any day. I have owned three VW westy vans in my life and can attest to the high quality of the mechanical and interior work on the camper we rented from Bevan. What is regrettable about some of the reviews I have read about Bevan's outfit is that the reviewers seem to be misguided in their assessments of the vehicles and how to properly enjoy them. Renting or owning a VW camper is a unique privilege and not everyone who engages this type of experience will respect and appreciate it. Bevan is providing a special opportunity to travellers and I want to express a public thank you to Bevan and provide an unreserved endorsement of his high quality service and unique rental product - way to go Bevan! Keep the wheels rolling :-) For anyone wanting a rental vehicle for an iconic camping experience in NZ, no need to search any further.

It feels like we should share our recent experience with Classic Campers. On the third day of our driving tour, we watched AA (the NZ equivalent of AAA) tow the van we had hired from Classic Campers away -- and we were left to sort out how to salvage the rest of our "once-in-a-lifetime" family trip to New Zealand. I have waited a few months to write this, and I can now admit we were naïve, too trusting, and foolishly unprepared.  While we had experience with left-side driving and have operated a manual for years in hilly San Francisco, we should have done more research (including heeding Lori’s review!) and picked a vendor who was better able to support us, providing a safe and road-worthy vehicle. Here are a few things we would like to share so other can learn from our missteps: 1.  The VW Kombis rented by Classic Campers are vintage, classic cars.  Finicky.  Prone to breakdown.  In need of daily, if not hourly tinkering. What this means: You need to be very familiar with if not in love with VW Kombis/Westfalias, have a very good (rusty will not cut it) operating knowledge of old school auto mechanics, and expect to spend a fair portion of your trip dealing with issues.  If this does not sound fun to you, you are on a strict timeline, and/or are not mechanically adept, let this dream go and rent a different vehicle from a different company. 2.  Kiwis really are friendly, and some are the most amazingly generous and kind people you will ever meet. But there will be a few bad apples, as our experience with Bevan proved to be. What this means: For the three days we had the vehicle, many Kiwis struck up conversations in parking lots and some even pulled over to come check out the van. Our overnight campsite neighbors were some of the most helpful and kind people on the planet, attempting to diagnosis engine trouble and helping us jump start the van. (See #1 above.) The best example of the amazing generosity of most Kiwis was on day three, after the AA mechanic pronounced the van unfit to drive: “It could have blown up, mate. This is a family here and what you are suggesting is very unsafe,” we heard him telling Bevan on the phone. I was in tears trying to figure out how to salvage the rest of our vacation, and a lovely Kiwi couple took pity on us and offered to drive all of us the ~4 hours it would take to get back to Auckland -- since there were no empty hotel rooms, no rental cars, no buses and no flights back for another 18-24 hours from the town where we had broken down. Oppose that with the red flags went up within moments of meeting Bevan, as he told me (unprompted) that I must start using corporeal punishment on my young boys as well as other unsolicited parenting advice, in addition to his rude responses to my and my husband’s questions while he briefed us on the vehicle. As well, reading his response to Lori’s Google review sounded all too familiar, as every time we called him from the road to report the issues we were having -- as we had been instructed to do -- he inevitably tried to blame us: our inexperience driving left, our kids, you name it. (Full disclosure: Bevan also verbally agreed to prorate our trip to the 3 days we had the van after the AA mechanic said it was unfit to drive, but he then charged my credit card in FULL for the 16 day hire, adding insult to injury given the fact that we had had to locate and hire a more expensive van for the remainder of our trip on our own AND pay for hotel rooms until we were able to locate a free van, since it was peak season.) 3. Trust your instincts and read the fine print. What this means: Bevan/Classic Campers is literally a one-man show. The contract is non-standard (it does not have a 24 hour vehicle repair or replacement policy, among other things larger, more reputable companies do), and Bevan runs too lean of an operation to properly support you should your van run into issues (which, it inevitable will). All that to say, go in eyes wide open. Know what you are signing up for, or like us, you will be sorely disappointed.

We rented the 1996 VW T4 Winnebago for our NZ "Baby Moon" holiday. The van was not very clean and needed attention to small details inside to make the van more acceptable. An old van is fine - as long as its limitations are communicated & is clean. Our van had no working air con (30+ each day when we were there). It was not suitable at all to take up steep hills so that was disappointing. Being pregnant it was important to us that the van was clean, self contained and had air con. Due to this not great experience I wouldn't rent this van again, however Bevan has communicated with me regarding my concerns and agreed to a partial refund for items raised and to ensure a fair outcome. Thanks.

Did not have an actual rental experience, but Bevan was very helpful finding solutions when our initially booked van (other company) was cancelled only 3 days prior to the rental start. Bevan was happy to welcome us to view the van before the rental and even made us a very competitive offer regarding pricing. In the end the initial rental company offered us a proper alternative, otherwise for sure we would have rented Bevan's VW T4.

We hired Van 7 just last month (the very same red/white 1972 one that Jane Logan complained about in her review) and we couldn't have been happier! We met Bevan just North of Auckland to collect it and he walked us through everything we needed to know. It came equipped with all that we required to eat and sleep and also had some good maps. As it is a vintage vehicle, we took it easy on the highways with regard to speed but that was the whole point of our trip - to relax and take it slow. We explored many fantastic beaches, small towns and great camp grounds. We prepared lots of delicious meals and had very comfortable sleeps. We made it all the way up to Cape Reinga and back again without a single problem or hiccup. Everywhere we went people wanted to know about the van and shared their personal stories of this iconic camper. It made people smile and wave like we've never experienced before! It was the best 2 week holiday we could ask for and super memorable. Highly recommend as it was the most excellent way to see New Zealand. We completely agree with the sentiments Scott Graham expressed in his review about the unique quality of Bevan's vehicles and are so happy he is able to share these fantastic gems with the world. We can't wait to plan our next getaway and rent another Classic Camper from Bevan! Thanks again for everything! Cheers, Mark & Jen

Classic Campers provided us with an amazing experience during our time in New Zealand. Bevan was super helpful, easy to communicate with and worked to help us make the dream of road tripping in a kombi, a true one! From emailing months before, to meeting Bevan and then returning the car, the whole experience was easy. We had a last minute change in our schedule, and Bevan worked to accommodate us, which was great! The car is beautiful and runs perfectly. On the first day, Bevan spent some time with us reviewing everything, gave us some advice, and off we went. New Zealand is an amazing experience, an awesome place to explore and doing so in a 72 VW camper van made the whole thing even more dream like. We highly recommend!

My wife and I drove a T4 Transporter Camper van from Christchurch to Auckland. This was a really enjoyable and cost-effective trip and the van didn't miss a beat. We had a great experience dealing with Bevan and he was always willing to help in whatever way possible. Being a family owned and operated business, Classic Campers provide a true and authentic Kiwi experience that is second to none. I highly recommend them if you want to do a NZ roadie in well equipped, clean, safe and maintained vehicles at a competitive price.

Cannot recommend enough. We had van 8 a 1969 Tintop. We called him Vinnie or Vincent! A handsome chap! a lot of fun to drive, cruised at a good speed (and going faster you'd miss stuff!). Children and adults waved as we passed, countless fun chats with people everywhere we went, who said they wished they'd done it. Vinnie made our trip extra special. So glad we didn't go for a big white van like everyone else, or the small and ugly Juicy ones we saw everywhere. Seems the couple of bad experience reviews below must be significantly down to the renters! I spoke with Bevan several times on phone before booking, pick up and during our trip. He was very helpful, accomodating and to happy to talk through things I couldn't work out. Helps to have some basic car/mechanical knowledge just in case but our 2 weeks went without a hitch. Van was in great condition for 50 yrs old! The CD & bluetooth player was a great addition and fridge but otherwise it was a brilliant back in time experience. The NZ campsites are so good, all the other folk we met said the didn't use a lot of the mod cons/feaqtures of their big modern vans. NZ campsites are very good.